Israel says it has tripled the number of its troops in southern Lebanon in an expanded offensive, despite a United Nations vote backing a ceasefire. The soldiers are moving towards the strategically significant Litani River, the military said. Hezbollah's leader has said the group will abide by the UN Security Council resolution, which calls for a "full cessation of hostilities". Israel's Cabinet will discuss the issue on Sunday. It says it will only halt military action after taking a vote. Lebanese ministers will discuss the UN plan on Saturday. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora indicated he would back the truce call, saying: "This resolution shows that the whole world stood by Lebanon." Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said on the group's al-Manar TV channel on Saturday that it would abide by the plan. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Israel's military is pressing on with an expanded ground offensive in south Lebanon, despite the UN Security Council vote for a ceasefire plan. Israel has tripled its number of troops there, the army chief said. They are moving towards the strategically significant Litani River. The UN passed a resolution urging a "full cessation of hostilities". Israel's Cabinet is to discuss the issue on Sunday and will only halt military action after it takes a vote. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is asking the Cabinet to endorse the resolution, describing it as positive and acceptable. But even as diplomats finalised the draft, Israel radio said troops had been ordered to seize ground as far as the Litani River, up to 30km (18 miles) from the Israeli border. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4786041.stm

Following is the text of the operative provisions of a resolution adopted Friday The preambular provisions have been omitted for reasons of length.THE SECURITY COUNCIL, ...Determining that the situation in Lebanon constitutes a threat to international peace and security;1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;2. Upon full cessation of hostilities, calls upon the government of Lebanon and UNIFIL (The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon) as authorized by paragraph 11 to deploy their forces together throughout the south and calls upon the government of Israel, as that deployment begins, to withdraw all of its forces from southern Lebanon in parallel;...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14307971/

The single qualification to join their group is an intellect among the world's top 2 percent an IQ of at least 130 which makes some Mensa members often feel like outsiders. Those who traveled to Orlando this week found a place where they could do whatever gave them kicks without worrying about fitting in at the World Gathering of Mensa, a 100,000-member club. "Most of the people are just a little different, a little out of step. And here that just doesn't happen," said John Sheehan, a New Hampshire hypnotherapist and member of American MENSA's board of directors. "One of the most often heard phrases of people who are new to an event like this is, 'I felt like I've come home.'" The event, the first of its kind in America, drew more than 2,000 people from more than 38 countries and all U.S. states, except Wyoming, to Walt Disney World to celebrate the group's 60th birthday. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2304095

Federal investigators are pursuing leads in the United States related to the foiled plot to blow up flights from Britain but so far have found no evidence of terrorist activity, Bush administration officials said Friday.Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, meanwhile, said he would adjust new flight restrictions to try to make air travel for passengers "as simple and as easy as possible, as quickly as possible."U.S. counterterrorism officials stressed that there was no reason for Americans to believe plotters or others connected with the terror scenario were in the country. Still, the FBI has so far assigned an estimated 200 investigators to track down potential links....http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/12/ap/national/mainD8JEITSG0.shtml

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck off the west coast of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, at 3:54 a.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said. ``We don't expect a damaging tsunami from this event,'' said Dailin Wang, an oceanographer with the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, in a telephone interview. The epicenter was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) below the sea floor and took place 69 miles (111 kilometers) south of the center of the Dec. 26, 2004, quake that set off the deadliest tsunami ever. This was only a third as deep and less than a 1000th as strong as that tremor, according to preliminary measurements by the Geological Survey. ``Our team reported from the ground there was no damage or casualties from the quake,'' Fauzi, an official at the Jakarta Earthquake Center, said in a telephone interview today. No tsunami was reported. ...http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4rokE5Y5KFg&refer=top_world_news